Sound Estimation and Accuracy Task

Alzheimer Disease Clinical Trial

Official title:

Estimation and Accuracy in Sound Task Perceived to be Medically Diagnostic

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT02271685
• Other study ID #: HS14-553
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• First received: October 20, 2014
• Last updated: May 19, 2015
• Start date: February 2015
• Est. completion date: May 2015

Study information

• Verified date: May 2015
• Source: Carnegie Mellon University
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Health authority: United States: Institutional Review Board
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

Participants will be assigned to complete computerized estimation tasks for which there is a component of accuracy, such as estimating the duration of sounds. Participants will be told that the task is used as an early diagnostic tool to detect those at risk for a medical condition (e.g., Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease). Instructions will be given to participants telling them that accuracy on the task is associated with the disease, whereas those who are not at risk of the disease tend to either overestimate or underestimate the duration of the sounds. The investigators examine whether such instructions about the purpose and diagnosticity of the tasks biases participants' responses to the tasks, leading them to purposefully be more inaccurate in their estimates.

Description:

Participants will be assigned to complete computerized tasks for which there is a component of accuracy, such as estimating the length, in time, of sounds. Participants will be told that the task is used as an early diagnostic tool to detect those at risk for a medical condition (e.g., Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease). Instructions will be given to participants telling them that accuracy on the task is associated with the disease in question, whereas those who are not at risk of the disease tend to either overestimate or underestimate the duration of the sounds. The investigators examine whether such instructions about the purpose and diagnosticity of the tasks biases participants' responses to the tasks. The investigators collect additional survey measures as statistical controls and potential explanatory variables for variation in the performance on the tasks, and also test whether financial incentives for accuracy on these tasks improve the accuracy of responses to these tasks.

Following the task, all participants will be told that the tasks used are actually NOT diagnostic of the diseases in question, and that deception was used to learn how people respond to instructions about how a task can be used for diagnostic purposes.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 600
• Est. completion date: May 2015
• Est. primary completion date: May 2015
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: Both
• Age group: 18 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• 18 or older

• Able to access tasks on computer

• Able to hear sounds played on computer

Exclusion Criteria:

• Computer speakers absent or not functioning

Study Design

Allocation: Randomized, Intervention Model: Factorial Assignment, Masking: Single Blind (Subject), Primary Purpose: Screening

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Alzheimer Disease
• Parkinson's

Intervention

Other:
• Instructions about Overestimates
Participants are told that overestimating the duration of sounds are associated with low disease risk.
• Instructions about Parkinson's
Participants are told that the task is about risk of Parkinson's disease.
• Instructions about Underestimates
Participants are told that underestimating the duration of sounds are associated with low disease risk.
• Instructions about Alzheimers
Participants are told that the task is about risk of Alzheimers disease.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	Carnegie Mellon University	Pittsburgh	Pennsylvania

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Carnegie Mellon University

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Time Estimate	The estimate of the length of time elapsed during the sound file	30 minutes	No
Secondary	Time Generation	The length of time selected for the sound file to run by participants in a secondary task	30 minutes	No
Secondary	Perceived Risk of Disease	Scale question asking participants their perceived risk of having the diseases in the study	30 minutes	No